Upstate churches gather supplies to clean up natural disasters

Jacksons Grove United Methodist Church

Pastor Mike Bowers, far right, along with church members Robert Ochs, left, and Marjorie and Hugh Porter, are shown inside the sanctuary at Jacksons Grove United Methodist Church in Landrum. The church organized to create flood buckets, which are filled with cleaning supplies to aid volunteers who are helping with efforts for flood and disaster victims.

Published: Friday, February 22, 2013 at 3:15 a.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, February 20, 2013 at 7:41 p.m.

As snowflakes fell in Spartanburg last Saturday afternoon, many people peered out their windows and talked about the weather.

But inside Jacksons Grove United Methodist Church in Landrum, the focus wasn't on snow or ice. It was on tornados, hurricanes and the devastation they cause worldwide.

“Many of us worry about a few snowflakes,” said the Rev. Mike Bowers, the church's pastor. “We started thinking about people who have gone through storms much more devastating.”

These thoughts surfaced Saturday as a group of 17 church members worked in assembly-line fashion to fill 40 five-gallon buckets with cleaning supplies such as bleach, detergent, trash bags and gloves. The flood buckets, as they are called, and their contents will be shipped to the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), a national nonprofit dedicated to alleviating human suffering around the globe.

The cleaning supplies will be used by volunteers who clean up after natural disasters obliterate a city.

“This project is something we think is helpful and ongoing,” Bowers said. “There will always be storms and always be a need for this kind of assistance.”

In October, Hurricane Sandy ripped through seven countries, affecting several Northeast states. The superstorm caused an estimated $75 billion in damage, according to the National Hurricane Center.

In response to the disaster, UMCOR distributed more than 16,000 cleaning buckets to sites in five states, from Maryland to New York, according to a November news release.

This, in addition to the thousands of buckets sent after Hurricane Isaac damaged Gulf Coast states last August, depleted UMCOR's resources.

“Cleaning bucket inventory is low,” the news release said at the time. The New York-based nonprofit asked for help to refill its inventory.

Helping as a team

Fourteen United Methodist churches in the Upstate responded and came together to help.

“One of the hallmarks of the Methodist family of Christianity is that we have to put our hands and feet to work with our heart,” said the Rev. Thomas Smith, pastor of New Beginnings United Methodist Church in Boiling Springs. “If a disaster happens in the country, we can help people recover, and hopefully that's a way that we can share our faith.”

The Rev. Ron Towery, convener of a cluster of United Methodist churches in the northern part of Spartanburg County, said a group of clergy gathered around the time of superstorm Sandy to discuss ideas for an activity the churches could work on together.

“We felt the time together for our joint activity could best be used to replenish the bucket supply for UMCOR,” he said. “While many congregants are unable to go to the site of an disaster such as Hurricane Sandy, we can do our part by helping those who help others.”

The goal originally was for the 14 churches to gather individual supplies and then join together to fill the 40 buckets during a day of service, scheduled for this Sunday at New Beginnings United Methodist Church.

Jacksons Grove United Methodist took it a bit further.

When Bowers presented the idea to his congregation, they all agreed that 40 seemed a bit low.

“We felt like we could do more than we were asked to do,” he said. “We decided to do 40 additional buckets on our own.”

It costs about $55 to fill each bucket, which means it cost $2,200 to fill 40 — a tall order for a small, 120-member church.

“Everybody in the church contributed some way,” Bowers said. “This was really a church-wide effort. People want to respond in some tangible way to a natural disaster, and this gave them a way to help out.”

Marjorie Porter and Bob Ochs, two church members, went into the community and found people and businesses willing to contribute to the effort.

“Some vendors donated things,” Ochs said recently. “Lowe's gave us the buckets, work gloves and bug repellent and told us anything we purchased in the store, we could get a 10 percent discount on. Home Depot also gave us gift certificates to use.”

The degree of help was amazing, Bowers added.

“A lot of these companies, if you work with them and give them enough time, they are really community-minded and want to be involved in efforts like this.”

Challenging others

On Saturday, the snow didn't keep 17 members away as they gathered in the church's small sanctuary to fill the 40 buckets.

The task only took about 19 minutes.

Bowers said he challenged other United Methodist churches in their cluster to do more on their own as well.

By the time all the buckets are filled Sunday at New Beginnings United Methodist Church, Bowers expects more than 100 buckets will be ready to be shipped out.

“This has really snowballed,” he said. “It really ended up being a lot more popular than many of us anticipated.”

<p>As snowflakes fell in Spartanburg last Saturday afternoon, many people peered out their windows and talked about the weather.</p><p>But inside Jacksons Grove United Methodist Church in Landrum, the focus wasn't on snow or ice. It was on tornados, hurricanes and the devastation they cause worldwide.</p><p>“Many of us worry about a few snowflakes,” said the Rev. Mike Bowers, the church's pastor. “We started thinking about people who have gone through storms much more devastating.”</p><p>These thoughts surfaced Saturday as a group of 17 church members worked in assembly-line fashion to fill 40 five-gallon buckets with cleaning supplies such as bleach, detergent, trash bags and gloves. The flood buckets, as they are called, and their contents will be shipped to the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), a national nonprofit dedicated to alleviating human suffering around the globe.</p><p>The cleaning supplies will be used by volunteers who clean up after natural disasters obliterate a city.</p><p>“This project is something we think is helpful and ongoing,” Bowers said. “There will always be storms and always be a need for this kind of assistance.”</p><p>In October, Hurricane Sandy ripped through seven countries, affecting several Northeast states. The superstorm caused an estimated $75 billion in damage, according to the National Hurricane Center.</p><p>In response to the disaster, UMCOR distributed more than 16,000 cleaning buckets to sites in five states, from Maryland to New York, according to a November news release.</p><p>This, in addition to the thousands of buckets sent after Hurricane Isaac damaged Gulf Coast states last August, depleted UMCOR's resources.</p><p>“Cleaning bucket inventory is low,” the news release said at the time. The New York-based nonprofit asked for help to refill its inventory.</p><h3>Helping as a team</h3>
<p>Fourteen United Methodist churches in the Upstate responded and came together to help.</p><p>“One of the hallmarks of the Methodist family of Christianity is that we have to put our hands and feet to work with our heart,” said the Rev. Thomas Smith, pastor of New Beginnings United Methodist Church in Boiling Springs. “If a disaster happens in the country, we can help people recover, and hopefully that's a way that we can share our faith.”</p><p>The Rev. Ron Towery, convener of a cluster of United Methodist churches in the northern part of Spartanburg County, said a group of clergy gathered around the time of superstorm Sandy to discuss ideas for an activity the churches could work on together.</p><p>“We felt the time together for our joint activity could best be used to replenish the bucket supply for UMCOR,” he said. “While many congregants are unable to go to the site of an disaster such as Hurricane Sandy, we can do our part by helping those who help others.”</p><p>The goal originally was for the 14 churches to gather individual supplies and then join together to fill the 40 buckets during a day of service, scheduled for this Sunday at New Beginnings United Methodist Church.</p><p>Jacksons Grove United Methodist took it a bit further.</p><p>When Bowers presented the idea to his congregation, they all agreed that 40 seemed a bit low.</p><p>“We felt like we could do more than we were asked to do,” he said. “We decided to do 40 additional buckets on our own.”</p><p>It costs about $55 to fill each bucket, which means it cost $2,200 to fill 40 — a tall order for a small, 120-member church.</p><p>“Everybody in the church contributed some way,” Bowers said. “This was really a church-wide effort. People want to respond in some tangible way to a natural disaster, and this gave them a way to help out.”</p><p>Marjorie Porter and Bob Ochs, two church members, went into the community and found people and businesses willing to contribute to the effort.</p><p>“Some vendors donated things,” Ochs said recently. “Lowe's gave us the buckets, work gloves and bug repellent and told us anything we purchased in the store, we could get a 10 percent discount on. Home Depot also gave us gift certificates to use.”</p><p>The degree of help was amazing, Bowers added.</p><p>“A lot of these companies, if you work with them and give them enough time, they are really community-minded and want to be involved in efforts like this.”</p><h3>Challenging others</h3>
<p>On Saturday, the snow didn't keep 17 members away as they gathered in the church's small sanctuary to fill the 40 buckets.</p><p>The task only took about 19 minutes.</p><p>Bowers said he challenged other United Methodist churches in their cluster to do more on their own as well.</p><p>By the time all the buckets are filled Sunday at New Beginnings United Methodist Church, Bowers expects more than 100 buckets will be ready to be shipped out.</p><p>“This has really snowballed,” he said. “It really ended up being a lot more popular than many of us anticipated.”</p>